


Baby - sitters Club and Scooby Doo: The Fire Mystery at the Cemetery

by allysonandrews1982 (FonzFan82), missey3455



Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin, Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Crossover, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-12
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2017-12-05 03:19:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/718273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FonzFan82/pseuds/allysonandrews1982, https://archiveofourown.org/users/missey3455/pseuds/missey3455
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mary Anne found out the cemetery was on fire and found out her late best friend Kayla Willis' grave, she was stunned and became depressed. Who would have done something like that? Mystery Inc. and BSC are about to find out!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Baby - sitters Club belongs to Ann M. Martin and Scooby Doo was created by Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, and Iwao Takmoto

I was watching a movie on a Friday night. It was late. Dad was working late and closing for Randy, who was on vacation for a week. The office closes at ten - thirty on certain evenings. Otherwise, it closes at seven when Randy changes the hours in the wintertime.

I'm Mary Anne Spier. I'm 15 and live in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. I attend Stoneybrook High School for tenth grade. I was having cereal with bananas as a snack. I have diabetes. In fact, it's brittle. Not hard to handle it. My blood sugar was pretty high at the time, which is why I was having cereal. The movie that was televised was Rebecca Moorse and Samuel Jackson that Cam Geary, who I've been with since at the age of 13. It was our first movie together. I was 14 and just started high school. That was fun. I even took insulin after I checked it.

After the movie, I went to bed. I was too tired to stay up. Sharon was still up, so I told her I'd leave the lights on to make it easier for Dad about not coming home in a dark house. She agreed with that idea.

I was already sleeping by the time Dad came home from work. I didn't even hear him at all.

In the middle of the night, I woke up with a headache. When I checked my blood sugar, it was much too high: 400 mg/dl. That's how brittle diabetes is: my blood sugar goes crazy. I went downstairs and drank some orange juice. Dad probably knew I was up because he saw me when he came out.

"Is everything okay, sweetie?" Dad asked.

"My blood sugar was high, that's all," I replied. "I'm just having orange juice."

When I checked my blood sugar, it went down at 250 mg/dl, but it was still too high. I had more orange juice and it finally went back to normal. I checked my insulin and it was brown. Luckily, the hospital can change it during the night.

I went to Dad to tell him. He went to change it and took my insulin to be all set. The next day, I went to meet Stacey at the train station to see her father in New York City. She had plans with her best friends, Claudia Kishi, so she didn't get to visit her father yesterday. Stacey decided to invite me to go with her: Claudia has to baby - sit this afternoon.

I was planning to see my best friend, Kayla Willis, at her grave. She died a year ago and it was tough on me. She struggled with leukemia for quite awhile. I miss her too much. It's not easy to forget anyone - especially a best friend.

In New York City, we went to Mr. McGill's apartment to get settled in. An hour later, I went to visit Kayla's grave site.

"I figured I'd come to visit you for a bit. Kaylee and I still miss you. I'm thankful to have her. I'm glad we're still close," I said.

I stayed a bit longer and then left after ten to twenty minutes. Later that afternoon, there was breaking news. The cemetery was on fire and they named it.

"That's where Kayla's buried!" I exclaimed, getting upset.

Some of the graves were burnt including the Willis' grave and I was shocked.

"You were just there earlier," said Stacey.

"I know," I agreed. "Excuse me. I can't watch it anymore."

I got up and went to Stacey's room. That night, there was more information about the fire, but I stayed in Stacey's room because I did not want to hear it.

I didn't sleep much later on. I even cried. I couldn't believe about what happened to the cemetery including Kayla's grave. Who would do something like that? No one heard me.

Two hours later, I tossed and turned on the couch while dreaming about based on the news.

"No, no," I muttered in my sleep. "No, no."

Stacey probably came out for something when she heard me. That was when I woke up.

"Were you okay?" asked Stacey sitting with me.

"The news about what happened bothered me," I said.

"I'm sure it did. I wonder if Kaylee saw, too. I bet she'd feel the same way as you," said Stacey.

"Me, too," I said with an agreement.

The next day, Stacey and I had an early lunch before we caught the train. In Stoneybrook, Mrs. McGill waited for us. She must have known about the fire because she talked about it, but I refused to hear it.

"Can you please drop the subject?" I asked. "I don't want to hear it."

"The news bugged her," whispered Stacey.

At home, I unpacked the overnight bag and put it away. I was still shaken by the news.

At dinner, Sharon goes, "Didn't you hear about the fire at the cemetery yesterday in New York City?"

"No, I didn't. I was at the meeting," answered my father.

Me? I didn't say a word. Instead, I left the table to dodge the subject and went to my room.

"Um, what's wrong with her?" asked Dawn.

"Uh - oh. I bet she knew already. I know why, too. Isn't that where Kayla got buried? The news reporter added her grave got burnt," said Carlos. "I bet that's why Mary Anne's trying to avoid the subject. I don't blame her."

"I should go see her. Excuse me," said Dad as he got up.

In my room, Dad knocked on my door and came in to be with me while I was crying.

"How are you doing, honey?" asked Dad stroking my hair.

"Just stunned. I had just visited her grave yesterday afternoon," I said wiping my tears. "I wanted to dodge the subject because it bothered me."

"I bet it did," agreed Dad. "Carlos knew what you were doing. He didn't blame you for that."

"Oh, I couldn't believe it. I don't understand why someone would do that," I was still sobbing.

"I know," said Dad comforting me while I had my head buried in his shoulder. "It'll be alright now."


	2. Fred

I was in the garage with Shaggy. We were working on the Mystery Machine for a while but I did think we have to call in for service to check out the Mystery Machine. The last time we took the Mystery Machine in town, the tires ended up getting flat so we had somebody tow the Mystery Machine home for us, which is no fun at all. We might have to do this again when we call in service for the Mystery Machine.

A few seconds later, our friend, Velma Dinkley, came rushing into the garage where Shaggy Rogers, our dog, Scooby Doo and I were.

"Hey, guys, come in the house quick!" Velma cried.

"What do you want us in for?" I asked.

"There's something on the radio Daphne and I want you to hear!"

After Velma ran back inside, Shaggy and I gave each other a look and wondered what it could be this time.

Shaggy, Scooby and I walked into the house. The girls were standing right next to the radio, all right. Daphne Blake, the girl I like, turned the radio up so Shaggy and I could hear what the fuss was all about.

"Breaking news: a fire occurred in a cemetery in New York City earlier today.

As it turned out, the fire had caused all the people who were put to rest vanished with the fire. The cemetery now is burned and we cannot find any of the caskets that were buried in the cemetery. For now the police have no idea if there were any witnesses."

The radio went off.

 

"Jinkies! A fire at a cemetery?" Velma asked.

"No way Scoob and me are going out to New York to a burned cemetery. Right, Scoob?" Shaggy asked.

Scooby nodded in agreement. I watched as Daphne pulled out a Scooby Snack.

"Will you do it for a Scooby Snack?" she asked a Scooby shook his head no.

"Two Scooby Snacks?"

That's when he took the Snacks from Daph and ate them. 

"Well, gang, looks like we have a mystery on our hands. Our stop will be to New York," I announced.


	3. Claudia

Once I heard the news about the fire, I was like, "How can someone do that?"

"I know," said Mom.

"That's where Kayla is buried," I said.

"I wonder how Mary Anne is doing about that," said Mom.

"Me too," I said.

That was when Stacey came over.

"The fire was still over the news," I said. "That's just plain awful."

"I know, Mary Anne feels she lost Kayla all over again. Kaylee doesn't know it," said Stacey.

"Why?" I asked.

"She's worried Kaylee might get upset," said Stacey.

"She might find out anyway," I said.

"Scooby Doo gang are down because they want to help us solve the mystery," said Stacey as she explained it to me.

"Great, we all can join in. But would Mary Anne want to do so?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. I didn't ask her yet," replied Stacey.

"I got a feeling she might not want to," I said as Stacey agreed with me.

When we asked, I was right Mary Anne refused to help out.

"Don't you want to help to solve the mystery on why your friend's burial site is burnt down?" I asked.

"It could bother me," replied Mary Anne.

"You're usually great at solving anything," said Stacey.

"You know on how emotional I get," said Mary Anne.

"We can all do it together," I said.

Then, Stacey came up with an idea.

"Why don't you try to pretend that it didn't happen so you can still help us out?" asked Stacey.

"I could try, but how could I do that without letting it bother me?" asked Mary Anne who was worried about that.

"You can try to block it out," I suggested.

"I agree," said Stacey.

"Well, I guess so," said Mary Anne.

She wasn't so sure that would work for her.

"Did Kaylee know about what happened?" asked Stacey.

"She did, she got emotional, too," replied Mary Anne. "She found out when it came on the news that night."


	4. Daphne

The next day, the gang and I had finished eating breakfast and met up with the girls we were supposed to help solve the fire cemetery mystery. In all the past mysteries the gang and I have solved, we have never solved or worked on a mystery like this one before so it should be an interesting mystery to solve.

We met the girls outside the hotel the gang and I were staying while in Stoneybrook to help solve the fire mystery. One of the girls looked worried to us.

"Is she okay?" Shaggy whispered.

"I don't think so, Shag. My guess is that the fire is on her mind," Velma said. 

"Well, gang, there's only one thing to do," Freddy said.

I noticed the look on Shaggy and Scooby's faces.

"There you go again, Fred. This time me and Scooby aren't playing bait," Shaggy told us.

"You guys aren't bait right now. All I want us to do is talk to Mary Anne," Freddy said.

The three of us heard Shaggy sigh of relief.

"That was close, Scoob," Shaggy said as Scooby nodded in agreement.

The five of us walked up to the girls. Before we talked to the girls, we introduced ourselves first.

"Should we talk?" Freddy suggested to the girls.

"Sure. What's the talk about?" Stacey asked.

"The fire, of course," Fred said.

Velma and I watched Mary Anne try escaping from us.

"Stay here, Mary Anne. They might want to ask all of us questions about this," Kristy said.

"Well, I sure don't want to chat about it. You know, Kayla," Mary Anne said, trying not to cry in front of us.

We watched as the girls patted her on the shoulder.

"The faster we get through the questions, the faster we can get working on this," Freddy told Mary Anne as the rest of us nodded.

"Here's the first question: What were you doing after the cemetery began to flame?" Fred asked.

"I was with Stacey in her apartment in New York City. Later, it became the top story on the news. I did watch the news for a while, then it made me sick to my stomache watching the news," Mary Anne answered.

"What were you doing before the cemetery went on fire?" Fred asked.

"I was visiting my best friend, Kayla who had died from leukemia."

I was starting to feel sorry for this girl. Velma was looking at me and I could tell she was reading my mind and agreed with me. We spent the rest of the morning and we all decided to get to work on the case.


	5. Kristy

That evening, I noticed Mary Anne was feeling depressed. I think questions are taking a toll on her. She gets emotional when she talks about what happened. That's how sensitive she is.

She tries to be strong, but it was tough for her to do. Kaylee was the strongest. Mary Anne wants to be like that. Kaylee bragged about that one time and Mary Anne hated that - it just makes her feel jealous and upset even more. She nearly got rid of that friendship when Kaylee finally stopped doing that because Mary Anne was able to ignore that.

How could I tell she was depressed? She didn't want to do anything at all. She wasn't hungry. I do worry; she's diabetic. She was also very quiet. Plus, she would cry.

"I don't think we should give up," I said.

"I know, it just bothers me to think about the fire," said Mary Anne.

"You found the clues, which is good," I pointed out.

"I guess you're right," said Mary Anne. "I hate to feel this way."

"I bet," I agreed.

The next day, we looked for clues. Mary Anne got frightened about something: she found the missing grave from Kayla's spot, but it was vandalized saying I hate this person. Mary Anne was shocked about this.

"It looks like a spray paint," said Daphne, taking a picture of it.

"You're right. It does," I said, feeling it.

"This wasn't the only one that was vandalized. The others burnt graves are like that, too," said Fred.

"Why would someone do that?" I asked.

"Good question. We still need to track down that suspect and contact the police," said Shaggy.

"I totally agree," said Velma.

Mary Anne did not say one word. I think she's still surprised about that vandalism.

"Look. I see footprints," said Mary Anne who noticed some.

"Let's take a closer look," said Stacey.

Fred measured it and took a picture.

"Let's take this to the detective," said Fred.

At the police station, the detective told us a suspect's shoe size was about 6 or 6 1/2.

"Good work, everyone. We must be getting closer to catch that suspect," said the detective.

"We also found this," I said, giving him a cigar. "That's what caused most of the graves to be burned."

I gave him the picture of a vandalized grave of Kayla's grave.

"A few others had the same saying," said Fred.

"Very good at spotting those clues," said the detective.

"Thanks," said Velma. "We'll give you more information once we find more clues."

"Okay, good plan," said the detective.

At the plaza, we talked about the clues.

"We'll need to find someone that wears size 6 or 6 1/2," said Fred.

"Right," said Stacey.

"I wonder if we could speak to the cemetery worker. Perhaps we can get information from him," said Claudia.

"That's a good idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that," I said.

"Neither of us until now," said Dawn.

"And spying is another good idea to keep an eye on the suspect," I added as the others agreed.

"We can do that tomorrow so we can take a break," said Fred.

"Okay," I agreed.


	6. Shaggy

The girls, Fred, Velma, Daphne and I were eating supper at a food court in a mall here in New York City. Scooby and I have tried our best not to pig out too much around the girls. Fred told us while driving the Mystery Machine to New York. You know how he gets. When I finished a bite of a hamburger, I decided to ask questions about the creepiest grave.

I looked at the girls. I didn't pay any attention to Velma, whose eyes looked like they were going to pop out.

"If you don't mind my asking this, who the heck is Kayla?" I asked.

I could tell Fred's eyes had the same question and he looked like he wanted to ask that.

"She's my best friend, Shaggy. She and I were very close," Mary Anne answered.

That was a quick answer. From what the gang and I had heard earlier, Kayla and Kaylee used to live here in New York before moving to Stoneybrook.

Flashback:

I stopped by my locker on my way to lunch. Suddenly, I heard a snicker and glanced up. I saw my other rival, Shawna Riverson and her friends. They were teasing an African - American girl. The girl's name was Kayla Willis. She was new at the school and I'd only met her briefly, earlier on in the day during English.

I saw a flicker hurt in Kayla's eyes as she walked away. I noticed she was upset and approached Shawna and her friends.

"That was really mean of you to tease Kayla!" I said. "How would you like it if you were new and didn't know anyone and then you were being teased?"

They didn't say a word. I walked off and took a few deep breaths. I don't like confrontation and it's very hard for me to speak up and defend people. I went to find Kayla and found her at her locker, which happened to be next to mine.

"Are you okay now?" I asked her. "I just told them to stop."

"Thanks for standing up for me," said Kayla.

"Not a problem. We met in English," I said.

"Oh, that's right, we did," smiled Kayla.

"I'm on my way to meet my friends for lunch. Do you want to join us?" I asked.

"Okay! Thanks," smiled Kayla.

We chatted as we waited in line for lunch.

"So where do you live?" asked Kayla.

"Burnt Hill Road," I said.

"Really? That's where I live too!" Kayla exclaimed excitedly. "There's a really cool farmhouse nearby. It has a barn and everything."

"That's our farmhouse," I said.

"Wow," Kayla said with a grin. "We can walk to school and home together; I only live a few doors down. I can't believe we haven't seen each other around there yet!"

"I know," I said. "Where did you move here from?"

"New York City," she replied.

"Really? I love New York!" I exclaimed.

We got our lunches and walked over to join our friends.

"Hi everyone, this is Kayla. Kayla, these are my friends, Kristy, Claudia, my stepsister, Dawn and Stacey," I introduced everyone.

I noticed a funny expression on Kayla's face.

"Kayla? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Hi, Kayla," Stacey said slowly. "Wow...what a coincidence."

"Hi, Stacey," replied Kayla.

"What's new with you?" asked Stacey.

Stacey is from New York City. She moved here with her family after Mr. McGill's company transferred him here. She hadn't been here long when she was transferred back to New York. We were sad to see her go. Then she moved back again after her parents got a divorce. It was a sad time for Stacey, but we were glad to have her back. Poor Stacey has diabetes. If she's not careful of what she eats she can get very sick because she cannot have a lot of sugar. She also has to inject herself daily with insulin. Ugh!

"I just moved here yesterday afternoon," said Kayla.

"How do you two know each other?" I asked.

"We went to the same school in New York," said Kayla. "Weird, huh?"

"Wow, you're so lucky," I said. "Oh! I just saw Shawna and her friends teasing Kayla, so I just stopped them."

"Good," said Stacey. "They can be so immature."

"Kayla is in my homeroom and English class," I said.

"Hey, Kayla, I think you're in my math class," Claudia spoke up.

School is not Claudia's thing. Her older sister, Janine is a genius. Claudia's smart too, but she does not like school. Their grandmother, Mimi, used to live with them and she was the one person who really understood Claud. But she died of a stroke not long ago. It was so sad. Claudia loves art and create anything. She also likes junk food and reads Nancy Drew, but she's not supposed to have those, so she hides them everywhere in her room.

"Actually, that was my twin," said Kayla. "I'm in Kristy's math class."

"There are two of you?" I said.

"Yes. My twin is Kaylee," said Kayla. "We're identical twins."

"Whoa, I'm getting confused if I met her and think it's you," I said.

"We have the same style of clothes, but in a different color," said Kayla. "We wear our personalized necklaces so people can tell whose is who."

"Good thought," said Claudia.

After school, our friends, Mallory and Jessi joined us outside. Mallory and Jessi are best friends. Like me and Kristy, they're the same in some ways and different in other ways.

Like for example, with their families. Mallory is the oldest of eight kids. They are both talented, but in different wants; Mallory wants to be a writer and Jessi wants to be a dancer. Mallory is white and Jessi is African - American. Their parents treat them like kids, but they do wear earrings. They also both have a hamster; Mallory has Fido and Jessi has Misty. They love reading about horses.

"Kayla and Kaylee are walking with us, Dawn. They live a few doors down from us," I said as we started walking home.

"Okay," said Dawn.

"How are you two related?" asked Kaylee.

"We're stepsisters," I said as I explained the story.

"Wow. That is weird your parents dated during high school," said Kayla.

"I know," agreed Dawn. "My younger brother, Jeff moved back to California to live with our dad."

"That must have been hard on you," Kayla said sympathetically.

"Yeah, it was at first. I usually see him mostly during holidays and sometimes long weekends," said Dawn. "So it's not so bad."

"That's good," said Kaylee.

End Flashback

"So that's how we met, but there's more to the story, but the story is too long to continue for now," Mary Anne said when she finished.

"That was quite a story," Velma said.

"You better believe it," Mary Anne answered.

"We'd love to hear more of the story sometime," Daphne said.

"You will."

"Something is bugging me about who would burn the cemetery in flames," Fred said.

"I agree," Mary Anne said.


	7. Mary Anne II

I was in a hotel room alone. I didn't want to be with anyone. Answering about Kayla's life is bothering me.

"It's time to go to the fair. I heard we have suspects there," said Dawn.

The last thing I want to do is going to the fair and be upset. I hate it those memories stay in my mind. I went anyway. At the fair, I could feel tears streaming down my face.

"What's on your mind?" asked Shaggy.

"The fair bothers me. I had this terrible memory when I went to one," I said.

The flashback begans.

We went on a few rides. My favorite rides were roller coaster, ferris wheel, and swings. At noon, we were having lunch. I had a hamburger with Sprite, Kayla had a hot dog with Coke, and Kaylee had a cheeseburger with Lemonade.

"I love fairs. They're fun to go to spend the day. I wish I could go to fairs every day," I said as we laughed.

"I know," agreed Kaylee.

After lunch, we started to play some of the games. We were playing the fourth game when I noticed Kayla was looking pale.

"Are you okay?" I asked after I won. "You look very pale."

That was when Kayla collapsed.

"Kayla," I said as I got the cell phone and dialed Mrs. Willis' cell phone.

Unfortunately, there was a voicemail and left a message and my cell's number. After that, I dialed 911 and told the operator about what happen.

"The help is on the way. You can hang up now, dear," said an operator after two seconds.

"Thanks," I said as I hung up.

Then the cell phone rang and I answered.

"Is anything okay? You sounded upset," said Mrs. Willis.

"Kayla collapsed awhile ago and I just called 911. The ambulance is on its way now," I said.

"Just hang on. Where are you right now?" asked Mrs. Willis.

I told her and she said to have Kaylee to meet her mom half-way. That's what Kaylee did and when she came back with her mother, the ambulance arrived.

"Good work, Mary Anne, you did the right thing," said Mrs. Willis.

I didn't hear her; I was crying. I was still crying at the hospital.

"I just hope Kayla would be alright," I said drying my tears.

"Me, too," said Kaylee comforting me.

Their doctor, Dr. Weed, came in to Mrs. Willis and said, "She'll be fine. It was her appendix that caused her to collapse."

"Okay. May we go see her?" asked Mrs. Willis.

"Of course, but there is one more thing, there's also something might be wrong, so come back in another week or two from tomorrow for some tests," said Dr. Weeds.

I got very upset.

The flashback ends.

"Ever since that happened, I stopped attending the fairs to avoid the memory," I said.

"Oh," said Shaggy.

"I'm also sensitive. Whenever someone mentions the fair, I get upset easily," I said.

"You were brave to tell the story," said Velma.

"I didn't realize that," I said.

That was unusal.

"That was before her luekemia returned," I said.

The flackback begins.

On Saturday, I found out Kayla was getting worse and left for New York City for the tests early after they called the doctor. Kaylee stayed behind because she was scared about what would happen, so she stayed with my family.

"I pray Kayla would be fine," replied Kaylee.

"I know," I agreed.

That night, we haven't heard one word about how Kayla was doing. I was getting even more worried.

"When are we supposed to find out?" I asked.

"When my family returns," replied Kaylee.

"Oh," I said.

Two days later, after school, Kaylee and I noticed her family are back at home.

"Let's go see Kayla," said Kaylee.

We went over there. Kayla looked very upset and didn't look too well.

"Kayla?" I asked worriedly.

"Mary Anne," said Kayla as she hugged me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Did something happen?" asked her sister.

"Leukemia came back," said Kayla.

"WHAT?" I exclaimed. My voice was shocked!

"Oh, no," said Kaylee.

"They're not sure if I'll live this time and I'm scared about it," Kayla told us.

I was already in tears when she told us the news.

The flashback ends.

"Wow," said Shaggy.

"I know," I agreed.

We asked a few witneses about the fire.

"I heard someone got paid to do so," said a woman.

"Do you know who?" asked Velma.

"No, that's all I know," replied the woman.

Some others said the same answers. We're getting closer.


	8. Velma

Velma:

The girls, Fred, Shaggy, Daphne and I were still in the cementery where it burned into flames. I separated from everybody. I wanted to solve this mystery as much as everyone wanted. Nobody had paid any attention of my leaving them. I did walk over to the spot where Kayla’s grave was burned into ashes.

I looked aorund in the north, east, south, and west to see if I could pick up any new clues or evidence to this strange and scary mystery. This is about the interesting and scary mystery since the gang and I solved our very first mystery a long time ago. I also had this feeling everyone had split up to see where I was headed.

The gang and the girls split into groups. They hadn’t found me quite yet. I thought I saw a shadow headed my way at the cementery and I already knew for sure it wasn’t the gang. I had a description from Stacey about what a classmate of theirs in case she was involved in this fire that caused the fire to happen. The shadow disappeared and now I saw the face. It was the look of a female.

“What are you doing here? This isn’t a cementery anymore,” the teenager said to me.

When she said that, I could smell smoke under her breath. I couldn’t stand that kind of smell.

“I am just trying to come up with clues that would solve this mystery. What is your name?” I asked.

“Is that any of your business, Velma?” she said in a tone of voice that told me to stay out of it.

“How did you know who I am?” I asked, a little surprised how this teenager learned my name.

“Well, to begin with, everybody knows who Mystery Inc. is,” she answered.

Well, she was right. The gang and I had been famous for several years and gained lots of new fans since.

“Since you already know who my friends and I are, why don’t you introduce yourself?” I asked her.

“My name is none of your business,” she said as she took a couple of puffs from the cigarette she was holding.

I could barely breathe through all of the cigarette semll that kept coming my way. I coughed a few times, but it still didn’t do me any good.

“I do have a question for you,” I told her.

“Yeah, what’s that?” she asked.

Before I could begin, I coughed a few more times. While my coughing continued, I turned around and found Fred, Daphne, and Dawn.

“What is going on here, Velma? We thought we heard coughing,” Daphne said.

I blew the cigarette smell from my face, but it didn’t do me any good. I finally spoke up.

I didn’t answer Daphne’s question. Ignoring her question, I asked my question instead.

“What my friends and I would like to know-“ 

I paused since the coughing returned.

“Know what?” she asked.

Fred toook over my question since the coughing was still making me not to speak. I felt Daphne pat my back, telling me I would be okay. I knew that, but felt Daphne’s reassurance.

Daphne continued to pat my back as Fred asked, “We haven’t been able to find the suspect on who started this whole fire. Do you think you could give us a clue or hint who the suspect could be?”

The girl shook her head, refusing to answer his question.

“I’m still not telling,” she said, refusing to answer his question.

“I’m still not telling,” she said.

“Dawn, do you have any idea who this is?” Daphne asked.

“Yes, I do,” Dawn answered.

Before Dawn could tell us who she was, Shaggy and the other girls joined us.

“Who?” I asked, still coughing a bit.

“Are you okay, Velma?” Shaggy asked, sounding worried and thinking I was coming down with something.

I continued to cough, so all I did was nod my head, telling Shaggy I was okay.

“Cokie Mason,” Dawn told us.

Stacey and the other girls nodded in agreement. At least they already knew who the smoker was. Everyone didn’t cough at all like I was. Shaggy took a turn to ask Cokie a question.

“Are you the one who burned this entire place to ashes? You really scared everyone by doing so,” Shaggy said.

“I didn’t do it,” Cokie lied.

“You’re lying, cokie. Tell us the truth,” Mallory said.

Cokie shook her head a second time.

“I think we should call the cops,” Fred replied.

“Good idea, Fred. This whole mystery is still scaring me,” Shaggy said.

I did notice he looked like he was going to start shaking. Cokie still said nothing, but did watch Fred use my phone. He and Shaggy didn’t have cell phones like Daphne and I do. It was all right with me, so I handed the cell phone to him.

“Thanks, Velma,” he said.

The cigarette smell was getting stronger by the minute. The more Cokie smoked, the more my coughing got worse.

“Let’s get you into the fresh air. Maybe that will do the trick,” Kristy said as Daphne let go of me.

Kristy and I walked a few miles away. I still wanted to see what the sheriff was going to do.

“I still don’t get why you would like like this, Cokie. You let this entire thing happen. Why would you want to burn all of the the graves?” Mary Anne asked.

She hadn’t spoken a word since I separated frome veryone and ended up face – to – face with Cokie. Kristy was right – I did start to feel a little better, but the coughing part didn’t stop.

“Should we send for an ambulance too?” Daphne asked.

“I’d think that’s a good idea,” Shaggy said.

I could see his worried look still didn’t leave his face. After Fred called the sheriff, he sent for the ambulance.

“They’re on their way,” Fred announced, giving me the cell phone back.

I was able to speak, but the coughing was still serious.

“I’ll be okay,” I reassured my friends.

“Cokie, would you stop smoking? You could get lung cancer in upcoming years,” Jessi told her.

Cokie didn’t do what Jessi just told her.

“It’s my body. Why are you telling me what to do?” Cokie asked Jessi.

“Smoking isn’t the answer. Maybe Velma will get sick since she was breathing your cigarette smell,” Shaggy told her.

“Is that what you want to happen to Velma?” Dawn asked.

Cokie still didn’t answer.

The police and paramedics showed up at the same time. We watched as the paramedics carried a stretcher. I started to cough again. The aparmedics looked like they were either twins or cousins. I couldn’t tell which was the better word. Both of them carried the stretcher.

“Is Velma going to be all right?” Mary Anne asked.

Just like everyone else, she was worried about me.

“She’ll be all right,” one of the paramedics answered.

“Whew,” Mary Anne said.

Daphne decided to keep me company. The paramedics had finished carrying me to relax on the stretcher. The paramedics looked like they were in their early twenties. The one paramedic who said I was going to be all right, looked like he had done this job a few times enough to know what he was doing.

His nametag told us that it was Eddie. He had short red hair, but he looked like he lost some weight recently. He didn’t have a wedding ring on his finger. He had beautiful eyes. They were light – green. The other paramedic, whose name was Daniel, was also in his twenties, had light – brown hair and gray eyes. The sheriff had handcuggs in his hands, had dark, dirty blonde hair with hazel eyes. He was older than Eddie and Daniel were.

We watched as the sheriff, whose last name was Brown, handcuffed Cokie, who continued to smoke, she lit her cigarette. Sheriff Brown opened the backseat and Cokie sat in the car, still not saying a word.

“Just wait till your mother hears about this,” Mary Anne told her.

We watched Cokie stick her tongue out at us. Shaggy rode in the ambulance with me. We got the ambulance under fifteen minutes to the hospital. The paramedics carried my stretcher out of the vehicle and placed a wheelchair. I obeyed and sat down as Daniel pushed the chair away.


	9. Kaylee

I can't believe we almost solved the mystery. Wait until we ask Cokie some questions about the graveyard fire. This is going to be very interesting. We were told to get to the police station first thing tomorrow. The gang planned to meet us there.

"I wonder if Cokie might fess up," said Mary Anne.

"Me, too," I said.

"And, I bet she was the one who got paid or paid someone to do that," added Stacey.

"Yeah," said Claudia.

"I'm nervous about what was going to happen," said Mary Anne.

"I'm sure you'd make out fine," said Dawn.

"I hope so," said Mary Anne.

"Cokie did the dumb thing if that was her," I said.

"I agree," said Claudia.

"We'll wait to phone her mom until we hear this from her," said Stacey.

"I already called her mom and she would be here tomorrow while police ask Cokie some questions," said Mary Anne. "The police told me to do so."

"Oh, good," said Dawn.

"Mallory and Jessi are on the look-out to see what's happening," said Stacey. "They're with the gang."

Then, Mary Anne's cell phone vibrated and she learned about something interesting from Marci.

"I heard Cokie did burn down the graveyard along with the other graves including Kayla's," said Marci.

"Seriously?" asked Mary Anne.

"Yes, she did got paid to do that by her sidekicks," said Marci. "I heard it from someone."

"Yikes. She's at the police station and would be there until tomorrow or whenever we ask her some questions," said Mary Anne. "Her mom will be here there as well."

"I mentioned this to the principal and was glad that I told him. Should I tell him the police has Cokie in New York City?" asked Marci. "He didn't know where she has been all this time."

"You mean she skipped school to be here to burn the graveyard?" asked Mary Anne.

"That's what I thought, too," said Marci. "I'll bring that up to him tomorrow. The sidekicks got a detention for two days starting tomorrow. He's going to tell them tomorrow."

"Good. That would teach them a lesson," said Mary Anne.

"I know," said Marci.

After they talked, Mary Anne told us what Marci said.

"I had a feeling that was Cokie," said Stacey.

"So did I," I said.

"I bet Cokie would be suspended for that," said Dawn.

"We'll see what happens tomorrow," said Mary Anne. "I'm glad Marci called to tell me that."

"Me, too," said Stacey.

The next day, we got up by 8:00 am since we have to be at the station between 9:00 and 9:30 am. Mary Anne didn't sleep too much. The fire thing still bothered her as far as I can see it.

"We have time to have breakfast real fast before we get to the station," said Stacey.

"Okay. Let's go," said Dawn.

"We can get something small to be all done so we won't have to rush," said Claudia.

"I'm not hungry," said Mary Anne. "I'm nervous about today since I'm not good at confront with anyone."

"We'll be there together," I said.

"Thank goodness," said Mary Anne.

"Everything will be okay," said Kristy.

We had breakfast in the buffet. After we ate, we headed to the station. The others weren't there yet.

"We'll wait until they get here. Mrs. Mason's already here," said the police.

"I found out about something interesting last night. My friend, Marci, called me on my cell phone to tell Cokie burned down the graveyard and a few graves and she got dared by her sidekicks and paid her to do it," said Mary Anne, who was actually brave to mention it. "Her sidekicks are due to get a detention for two days starting today. Marci mentioned it to our principal yesterday and was glad to hear. He didn't know where Cokie was."

"So, your friend was saying Cokie skipped school to do that?" asked the police taking down notes.

"That's what she thinks, too. Marci heard it from someone else, which is how she found out," said Mary Anne. "I bet Cokie would be suspended to do so. I have the school's number if you want to call our principal."

"That would be helpful," said the police.

Mary Anne wrote down the number from her cell with the principal extension and gave it to the police.

"Thank you. I'll call him when we're through," said the police.

That was when the rest arrived. Mary Anne told them about what she learned.

"I believe we solved the mystery," said Velma.

"I believe so, too," said Mary Anne.

When we joined Cokie and her mom, Mary Anne said, "Do you mind if I tell Mrs. Mason?"

"Feel free to do so," replied the police.

"What was the issue?" asked Mrs. Mason.

"I found out something interesting: Cokie destroyed the graveyard and a few graves- espically Kayla's by fire," said Mary Anne.

"Oh, really?" asked Mrs. Mason.

"Yes. Marci told me this when she contacted me. She added that BeBe and Grace paid her to do so. The principal was glad when she told him that. They're both getting a detention for two days starting today. And, he didn't know where Cokie was when he wanted her in his office," said Mary Anne.

"Margarite Mason, what's wrong with you to be doing that?" asked Mrs. Mason. "I wasn't aware she skipped school to do that."

"We're going to contact the principal about this. Mary Anne gave us the school number along with the extenstion for the principal office. It's good that she told us," said the police.

"Me, too," said Mrs. Mason. "As for you, young lady, you're going to be grounded for two weeks for what you did."

"We'll call him now and he might suspend her in the meantime," said the police.

They did and she did got suspended for a whole week starting today.


	10. Fred 2

I joined the group to where Velma was. It looked like I missed on something good when Shaggy, Daphne, and I were out, trying to find more clues around the cemetery. I spoke up first.

"Did we miss out on anything after we split up?" I asked.

"Yes, you did, Fred. We just solved the mystery," Jessi answered.

"You should have wait so I wouldn't miss out," I told everyone.

It looked like Shaggy wasn't paying much attention. He wanted to think this creepy mystery would still be in progress. Shaggy was wrong.

"Okay, tell us. Velma, what happened to you?" Daphne asked.

Shaggy was still quiet, so he let Daphne ask that question, even though he was thinking the same thing.

"We found out who did this. Actually, Mary Anne and I solved it, didn't we?" Velma asked.

Mary Anne nodded, and then said, "Of course we did, Velma. Fred, I knew the suspect who did this because she's a classmate of ours."

"That's interesting. Tell us the name of this girl," Shaggy replied.

Now he was starting to show some interest, so he took the words out of my mouth.

"I was going to ask that," I told him.

"I'll let you do that next time," Shaggy replied.

"Done deal," I agreed.

Daphne didn't feel like asking anymore questions at the moment, so she let Shaggy and I ask the questions.

"Tell Fred the name of our classmate who did this," Daphne said.

"Cokie Mason," answered Claudia.

"Who the heck is she?" Daphne asked.

Now she's getting somewhere, I told myself.

"She is immature for her age and gets into lots of trouble," Stacey answered.

"Oh," was all Shaggy said.

"Plus, she was smoking and Velma was coughing for a while. Are you okay?" Mary Anne asked.

"Of course I am. Don't worry about me so much," Velma answered.

"I just don't want anything happen to you," Mary Anne said.

"And nothing bad happened, Mary Anne. Take that off your mind and don't think about it anymore," Velma told her.

"Velma's right," Dawn agreed.

"I'll try my best," Mary Anne told us.

"Good," Kristy said.

We all noticed Mallory still hadn't said a word. She didn't have to, I thought to myself.

"Then what happened to this Cokie girl?" Daphne asked.

That was also another question I wanted to ask. You lose again, Fred, I told myself again.

Boy, I've been talking to myself a lot since Daphne, Shaggy and I came back to join everyone. Now this is getting old fast.

"Mary Anne made a phone call to Mrs. Mason so she would hear about the latest on her daughter," Mallory answered.

It was her turn to speak up. Like Mallory, Kristy also hadn't said much at all during this solved mystery.

"And the police also didn't know who Cokie is, but we let one of the officers make the phone call to our school," Mary Anne added.

"Let alone spending sometime being grounded," Kristy said.

"That's no fun. I have been grounded as a kid," I said, and then asked, "where is Cokie now?"

"The police took her in for a while before her mother came to pick her up. Now she and her mother left about twenty minutes before you came back," Dawn told me.

"Besides, there is one other thing that's worth sharing," Claudia replied.

"What's that?" asked Shaggy.

"The principal suspended her along with her friends. They paid Cokie to do this as a dare or truth, and she went for it," Mallory said.

"Wow. Is that all to this mystery or that's it?" I asked.

"That's it. Looks like you've never solved a mystery like this recently," Jessi told us.

We all shook our heads.

"I know one thing," Daphne said.

"What's that?" Dawn asked.

"There'll be more adventures to come in the future," Daphne answered as the three of us agreed with her. Next time, I'll do my best not to miss out on solving any mystery. I do feel guilty.


	11. Claudia 2

The next day, I came up with an idea that we should celebrate tonight and the others can join us.

"That's a good idea," said Mary Anne.

"What should we do to celebrate?" asked Stacey.

"How about a party right here at the plaza?" asked Dawn.

"I like that idea," said Mallory.

"We can make it a surprise party for them," I added.

"Okay," said Kaylee.

We talked about what to do about the party. Mary Anne called Fred to have him and the others meet us at the plaza tonight between 6:00 and 6:30 PM. She didn't want to tell him it was to spoil the surprise. That was smart.

That night, we all changed up and were ready to get to the plaza. They set up a buffet for us to use.

"That was a good idea to do," said Mary Anne.

At the plaza, we were in the function room with the whole gang. They were all surprised.

"What's going on?" asked Daphne.

"It was Claudia's idea to do this for a celebration for solving the mystery together," said Mary Anne.

"Well, this is a nice way to celebrate," said Fred.

Then we went to grab food from the buffet.

"You had to leave tomorrow?" asked Shaggy.

"Yes, but maybe we can do it like this again sometime. It's easier when you have more people to solve mysteries. We do it sometimes," said Mary Anne.

"Wonderful," said Velma.

"That's a good idea," said Stacey.

Then after the party, we went back to our rooms so we can get ready to leave tomorrow. We're only taking a train. It's an hour. The next day, we were on the train back home.

Then we told our folks that we solved the mystery. Mr. and Mrs. Willis were glad about that. They told us the judge ordered Cokie to pay the damages she made in the grave site and to get new graves.

"That was a good way to teach Cokie a value lesson," said Mary Anne.

We had our own celebration by having our dinner at the mall and seeing the movie later that evening. We were glad we can put it behind us, including Mary Anne who was upset on what Cokie did to her best friend's grave.


End file.
